Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-19

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The graph below gives information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US, 1960-2020

Student answer (Band 6.0)

The figure illustrates the trend of jobs in multiple sectors over a span of 60 years from [redacted phone]. These sectors include manufacturing, retail, agriculture and healthcare.

Starting from the year 1960, manufacturing sector had highest and healthcare had lowest number of jobs, both offering 15 million jobs and 1.5 million jobs respectively. On the other hand, both retail and agriculture sector start from a bit over 5 million jobs in 1960.

Over a span of 20 years till 1980 these sectors showed a great change. Where all three sectors manufacturing , retail and healthcare showed a great progress the number of jobs in agriculture sector kept declining. 20 years later in 2000, these treands changed completely. Jobs in manufacturing declined from 20 million to 17 million, while, the retail sector showed a 5 million increase in jobs. On the other hand, healthcare sector showed the most progress of about 6 million. Besides all these changing trends the number of jobs in agriculture sector remained constant.

From 2000 to 2020, manufacturing sector showed a sharp decline of about 4 million jobs while healthcare sector kept progressing showing an icrease of about 6 million jobs. In contrast to these changes the treand of jobs in both agriculture sector and reatail sector showed a very little change, slight increase in retail sector while slight decrease in agriculture sector.

In conclusion, the retail and healthcare sectors showed great increase in jobs while jobs in manufacturing sector decreased over time. Jobs in agriculture sector kept decreasing over time but it lost less number of jobs as compared to others.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.0

The student covers all parts of the task well by identifying and reporting the main trends and making relevant comparisons across the four economic sectors over the 60-year period. An overview is present, though placed at the end rather than the beginning, and key features such as the dominance of healthcare and retail at the end versus the decline in agriculture are accurately captured. Data points are generally supported with figures from the graph, such as the 15 million starting point for manufacturing and the peak in healthcare. However, there is a minor contradiction in the opening paragraph regarding the starting point for manufacturing (stating 15 million correctly, but misstating healthcare as 1.5 million when the graph shows 2 million). Overall, the task is adequately addressed in line with Band 6.5 to 7.0 descriptors.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The response has a clear overall progression and logical organization, with information broken down chronologically into distinct paragraphs covering different time intervals (1960, 1960-1980, 2000, 2000-2020, and an overview conclusion). Cohesive devices such as 'On the other hand', 'Over a span of 20 years', and 'In contrast to these changes' are used appropriately to guide the reader through the data. Paragraphing is logical and effective, with each section dedicated to a specific period or summary point. However, referencing and transitions occasionally feel slightly mechanical, preventing the score from reaching higher bands.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate and generally appropriate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using terms like 'sector', 'fluctuated', 'declining', 'constant', and 'progressing'. There are attempts to use less common vocabulary ('fluctuated', 'sharp decline', 'slight decrease'). However, there are some noticeable lexical inaccuracies and spelling/word-choice errors, such as 'treands' (trends), 'icrease' (increase), and 'reatail' (retail). Furthermore, collocations are sometimes slightly awkward, such as 'kept progressing' or 'showed a great change'. The range is sufficient for the task but contains errors that prevent a higher score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, including subordinate clauses ('While all three sectors... the number of jobs... kept declining'). There are several complex structures attempted successfully, alongside good use of time-marker prepositional phrases. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. There are missing articles ('manufacturing sector had highest', 'healthcare had lowest'), minor punctuation issues, and occasional preposition errors. Despite these errors, communication is not impeded, and the sentence structures demonstrate a reasonable command of grammar consistent with a Band 6.5 performance.

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